The contribution of intestinal derived ceramides to whole-body metabolic dysfunction

Ceramides are a type of fat influenced by diet. While certain ceramide species accumulate, in obesity, to cause organ damage, others are beneficial to organ health and metabolism. Many research efforts have focused on how ceramides impact the liver as it coordinates fat transport around the body. The intestine is, however, the first organ to take up different fats from the diet. This thesis investigates the consequences of a fatty diet which drives the production of detrimental ceramides. Furthermore, boosting the production of protective ceramides, in the gut, is found to be a new way to improve diet-induced metabolic dysfunction.